PSU goes 5-0 in NCAA finals, runs away with title

ST. LOUIS -- Penn State sent five wrestlers into the finals at the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Scottrade Center in St. Louis Saturday night ... and all five came off the mat with individual titles.

The five Nittany Lions who made up something of a Murderers' Row by winning five consecutive championships: Zain Retherford at 149 pounds, Jason Nolf at 157, Vincenzo Joseph at 165, 174-pounder Mark Hall, and, in the marquee match-up, Bo Nickal at 184.

Arguably the most thrilling for Penn State fans was Joseph's pin of Illinois' Isaiah Martinez ... the only pin in the finals.

At 165, Vincenzo Joseph, the third-seed from Penn State, pinned the two-time NCAA champ and top seed from the Fighting Illini in the third period to avenge two previous losses to Imar. The match went back and forth between the freshman and seasoned junior, until Joseph put the Illini onto his back for the pin.

Joseph had his praise for Martinez.

"He's a phenomenal wrestler," Joseph said of Martinez. "He's a bully on the mat. And this time I was definitely ready for that. I was coming right back at him."

At 149 pounds, defending champ Zain Retherford of Penn State held onto his title -- and a 63-match win streak (the nation's longest) -- with an18-2 technical fall over No. 3 Lavion Mayes of Missouri. The Tiger made a splash with an early takedown, but the Nittany Lion did all the rest of the scoring in the match, racking up 12 unanswered points in the third period via a trio of 4-point nearfalls.

Retherford addressed the way the Penn State wrestling room operates by saying, "It's what we do every day in our room, have fun with it, compete hard, and learn. So it's hard to show up in practice and be a different person than match day, just being that same person consistently every day. I think that's what happens."

Nolf, the top seed at 157, ended his perfect 26-0 season with a 14-6 win over No. 3 seed Joey Lavallee of Missouri. The Nittany Lion, who was runner-up in the same weight class last year, scored takedown after takedown, including four in the third period.

Nolf talked about the one-upmanship going on with his teammates, especially Retherford, trying to outdo each other, saying, "Yeah, I mean our guys are pretty good, as you can see. We've got five guys in the finals back to back to back to back to back. So those guys are definitely some of the toughest guys I get to wrestle."

Penn State's Mark Hall won the NCAA title as a No. 5 seed (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

In a rematch of the 174-pound title bout at the 2017 Big Ten Championships, Penn State true freshman Mark Hall -- the No. 5 seed -- avenged that conference loss to Ohio State's Bo Jordan, the No. 3 seed, 5-2. There was no scoring in the opening period; in the second, Hall scored his first of two takedowns, the second coming in the closing seconds of the NCAA finals.

"It's a tough tournament," Hall said after his title win. "I've wrestled a lot of places. This is one of the tougher places. There's a lot of people out there. I've wrestled around the world, different people, different countries."

Nickal kept the Nittany Lion momentum going to close out the evening. After being a runner-up at 174 at last year's NCAA finals, Nickal moved up to 184 pounds, and took on two-time defending champ Gabe Dean of Cornell who was on a 45-match win streak. Nickal denied Dean a third title -- and snapped the streak -- with a 4-3 win in the finals.

Nickal was very respectful of Dean after his upset win. "Hats off to him, because he's a strong dude, good technique, holds good position. It was hard for me to get to my angles and positions but I capitalized when I needed to."

At the end of the competition, Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said, "They're the best of the best. And I'm just grateful that they're coaching with me and we're working together. We love what we do. And we trust each other and we have a great staff. And I think that it's the kids trust the coaches and we're here for the kids. It's not about me. It's not about Coach Casey. It's not about Cody.

"I'm still kind of like it's just crazy because usually you have somebody lose or something doesn't go right, and as a competitor your heart is always with the kid that doesn't reach his goal. And so this is very special."

No other team with more than one finalist had the same perfect outcome as the Nittany Lions. Of Missouri's three finalists, only one left with a title... while Ohio State wrestlers were 1-1 on Saturday night.

J'den Cox of Missouri claimed his third NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

While Mizzou's Lavion Mayes and Joey Lavallee came out on the losing end of their matches at 149 and 157 respectively, top-seeded J'den Cox scored a total of three takedowns to defeat second-seeded Brett Pfarr of Minnesota, 8-3, to win his third NCAA title and extend his win streak to 48 matches. Although Cox -- who won a bronze medal in freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics -- has concluded his collegiate mat career, he is discussing the possibility of becoming a middle linebacker for the Missouri Tiger football team.

"I'm honored to have accomplished another great feat, not only for myself but for my school, for my teammates and for my family," said Cox after his latest championship. "And I'm very proud of the way I represented every single one of those for myself, my team and everything to the program, my family. I'm proud I represented them throughout my years wrestling in college and I'm just really proud of the outcomes."

As for the Buckeyes ... while Bo Jordan was runner-up at 174, top-seeded Kyle Snyder -- 2016 Olympic gold medalist and defending heavyweight champ -- earned a 6-3 win over No. 2 Connor Medbery of Wisconsin. The big Buckeye, who weighed in today at 226 pounds, lifted the 264-pound Medbery and brought him to the mat for a first-round takedown. The Maryland native managed to score a second takedown in the second period to win the title despite having injured his ribs during the quarterfinals against Minnesota's Michael Kroells.

When asked about that injury -- and being able to lift Medbery as he did to get the takedown -- Snyder replied, "Yeah, that was a cool take-down. I don't think I ever lifted Connor up like that in practice or any matches. So that's good. Means I'm getting stronger."

The 125-pound title match featured a battle of childhood rivals in the Valley Elementary League in Pennsylvania. No. 4 Darian Cruz of Lehigh defeated sixth-seeded Ethan Lizak of Minnesota, 6-2. The match was tied through much of the second and third periods until Cruz scored a takedown with 21 seconds left ... then added to his lead with a last-second takedown -- his third of the match. Cruz becomes Lehigh's first NCAA champ since Zack Rey won the heavyweight title in 2011.

Asked about having some history with Lizak going back to an early age, and Cruz responded, "I definitely have doubt. The kid whooped my butt at Scuffle and he was beating me up at the mat. But so, of course, there's a lot of doubt. And I think you need to have that drive, and you've got to be a little bit scared and nervous to dig deep and push yourself. So, yeah, of course there's a little bit of doubt."

At 133 pounds, the third time was the charm for Iowa's Cory Clark. The fourth seed, in his third appearance in the finals, grabbed his first title with a 4-2 win over former Hawkeye teammate Seth Gross, the No. 2 seed who had been at Iowa until two years ago, but now at South Dakota State. Gross had led into the third period when Clark scored a reversal with one minute left. After getting that elusive championship, Clark playfully flipped assistant head coach Terry Brands onto the mat.

"It's incredible to finally get this done," said Clark in the after-match press conference. "I've had two years in a row where I spent a week … weeks in my basement just pouting, just being a baby, just not doing, not in a good spot. Not doing the right things.

"And today I can look forward and know in two weeks I won't be in my basement with my headphones turned all the way up and crying two weeks from now. You know? So that's a good thing."

Two high school rivals from the Cleveland area faced off in the 141 pound finals. Top-seeded Dean Heil of Oklahoma State successfully defended his NCAA title -- and completed his season undefeated -- by defeating No. 6 seed George DiCamillo of Virginia, 6-3. The Cowboy scored a takedown with 45 seconds left in the third period to extend his lead.

"Last time I wrestled George in an official match, aside from the Scuffle, was my freshman year in high school," said Heil in talking about his history with DiCamillo. "He's just another opponent. After I thought about it, just going in to today, there's nothing to worry about, it's just another match. I've been here. He hasn't. I think that's why I had the upper hand."

Penn State had entered the finals already knowing it had nailed down the team title earlier on Saturday, for its sixth championship in seven years. At the end of the night, the Nittany Lions had racked up 145.5 points. Ohio State placed second with 110 points ... and Oklahoma State was third with 103 points. In fourth place in the team standings was Iowa, with 97 points, followed by Missouri with 86.5.

There were 19,657 fans in the stands for the finals, the second-largest attendance figure for Session 6 in NCAA Division I history. (The all-time record of 19,715 was set in St. Louis in 2015.)

One year from now, wrestlers and coaches and fans will descend on downtown Cleveland for the 2018 NCAAs to be held at Quicken Loans Arena.

Comments

Assist to PSU coaching staff in Nickal's match for challenging that he got the takedown in the edge. What's a bigger upset; Imar going down or Gabe Dean going down?

Deadeye1
(1)
about 5 months ago

How about the Intermat article on "5 reasons PSU will NOT win the team title"!?!? LOL

textbookneed
(1)
about 5 months ago

"Assist to PSU coaching staff"

I believe it was the referees who reviewed it because it was so close or maybe because the 2nd official thought it was a takedown....PSU did not challenge.

Gilgamesh
(1)
about 5 months ago

Myron Roderick's Cowboys, Harold Nichols Cyclones, Dan Gables Hawkeyes and now Cael Sanderson's Nittany Lions. Domination over years in an Olympic sport can be problematic at the collegiate level in our country. Ask current and former gymnastics, water polo, volleyball and even track and field coaches and athletes for an honest perspective on this. Does singular greatness expand or contract a competitive enterprise? We want the former but perhaps share concerns about the latter.
This sport has existed since we, as a species, found ourselves on many occasions forced to fight to the death for our very survival. It has evolved over thousands of years but only in this form we enjoy so much for a twinkling of its existence. Each of those dynasties listed above had a defining presence leading them. They dropped from the top but, with one exception (soon to change) remain relevant.
There is a difference and it may prove significant. From over half a thousand viable scholarship programs to the current levels, it's in the numbers. The field of competition, at the D1 level, shows SLOW growth...at best.
The sleeping giants in the wrestling room live in the South. With 6 more ACC programs and 10 from the SEC D1 wrestling would approach a geographic footprint strong enough to return this sport we love so much to a place of cultural significance nation-wide. Each school surely has that one special alumni who could open the door to this possibility. If you love wrestling, make this your clarion call. Find that person or persons. In the meantime, celebrate the greatness we just witnessed. The Big 10 holding its presence firmly at the center of our sport. Young talent flourishing in Brookings, Cedar Falls, Charlottesville, Palo Alto, Tempe, and more. Strong Top 25 team performances from the ACC, EIWA, MAC and Big 12. In the end, really, what's not to love?
#morewrestlingplease

Whitetailwhisperer
(1)
about 5 months ago

I'm starting to get a little frustrated with officiating. Calls at 141, 174, and 184 were questionable. What is the Point of video review, if nothing gets called correct in the end anyway. It's like the officials don't want to ever admit that they could have been wrong and missed something. What is the mechanism put in place to make sure stuff gets called correct. This problem transcends wrestling, I see it in football and baseball as well. If Bo Nickal got a takedown, Bo Jordan did as well.

Whitetailwhisperer...Agree with you on stalling calls. However, don't understand your frustration on the video review at 184? They reviewed it, and the ref reversed his call to make it correct? So what are you complaining about? Nothing about Bo Nickals takedown compared to Bo Jordans is even close to being the same! Apples and oranges here bud. On a side note, give Jordan the 2, Final score 5-4.

textbookneed
(1)
about 5 months ago

Bo Jordan did not have a takedown. Mark Hall still had his leg. We know Jordan didn't have control because he didn't change his position. You have to change position to lose control otherwise you never had it. That was still a scramble position until Hall scooted his hips out and easily sat Jordan on his butt and grabbed both legs.

This was not controversial but Tom Ryan made it look so by flapping his wings and squawking -- he couldn't figure out what he just saw because most wrestlers can't fend off Jordan from that position.

Whitetailwhisperer
(2)
about 5 months ago

Having the leg does not prevent a takedown. It's about supporting points, hip coverage and control. That's why the 184 takedown and the 174 takedown are similar.

Whitetailwhisperer
(2)
about 5 months ago

And give Jordan the takedown puts hall down 1. Now who has to shoot and who can run?

textbookneed
(2)
about 5 months ago

Hall having the leg meant everything because it prevented Jordan from having control. It was a scramble position not a control position. The review confirmed it and applied the rules correctly.

dbestsport
(3)
about 5 months ago

Ignore Whitetailwhisper, he is clueless. If you recall the Big 10 finals, Hall was awarded 2 against Jordan - Jordan supporting points were down - but it was reversed because he never established control. Hall immediately got the reversal which proved Jordan never had control. Only an Ohio State fan would for 2 and 2 in that situation - unless of course Hall had taken the attack. I'm not sure what stalling issues he is referring to either. Hall was hit for stalling. A 2nd call would have been ridiculous. He stayed in the center of the mat and confronted Jordan the whole time.

Whitetailwhisperer
(2)
about 5 months ago

The leg means nothing, it's all about supporting points. Mark Halls supporting points were his butt and his right hand, Bo Jordans supporting points were his feet. If you want to argue against the takedown it would be better to argue about reaction time. Did Bo Jordan hold the position past reaction time? I know that the Merkel is a different position, but does having the leg in a Merkel prevent a takedown? I do not like the whole movement towards flash takedowns. When you watch something in slow-motion it looks different than real time. But it needs to be called consistently, or you have problems

Monsieur Tarzan
(1)
about 5 months ago

If Jesus can win an NCAA wrestling championship, let him come down and do it. Until then, I don't want to hear about how Jesus won the match.

rmarch63
(1)
about 5 months ago

textbookneed - They absolutely made the referees aware. The refs had no idea. Check the tape.

Whitetailwhisperer
(2)
about 5 months ago

@dbestsport. You're crazy. The big ten finals was a question of time. The clock was out before the hips were covered. Mark Hall clearly had the takedown 0.5 seconds after time expired. However he had nothing during the actual match. Pay attention to the details.

The stalling inconsistencies from 141-149-165-174 were crazy. It clearly matters which official you get as to how it will be called. The calls or lack there of seem to always favor the bigger name. I watched the finals with my neighbor who has never seen wrestling before. He couldn't figure out what was and wasn't stalling. I can't blame him.

"The match went back and forth between the freshman and seasoned senior, until Joseph put the Fighting Illini onto his back for the pin."

I believe IMar is a junior, not a senior, right? He was going for his third championship in 3 years.

Keyser Soze
(1)
about 5 months ago

@dbestsport I agree that wasn't a takedown by Bo because hall still had the leg. now that we got that out of the way, I want you to rewatch the 3rd period. After the escape by Bo puts the score to 3-2, he shoots 4 times and hall gets the stall warning. Bo then takes another 5 shots and hall does nothing but play prevent D.

How do the officials call a stall warning with 4 shots and then fail to give Bo the 1 point after he shoots 5 consecutive times? Don't get me wrong hall is a stud, but no one deserves a title while stalling for 1:25 of the 3rd period in a Championship bout.

cradleman
(1)
about 5 months ago

Why do people have such a hard time with athletes supporting their faith? It's too bad that some of you spend more time complaining about it rather than just appreciating that these kids live a clean and healthy life style. Maybe the message should be heard loud and clear that these guys are appreciative of what they have surrounded themselves with and their goals might have something to do with this. Maybe Cael, Tom, John, Brian, and Rob, among others might just have their wrestlers headed in the right direction.